Q: Name a famous TV actress of the past. Double her first name phonetically. You get the first name of a famous musician. If you put the last names of the musician and the actress together, in that order, you'll name a great legendary figure. Who is it?If the actress had used the actual spelling of her husband's last name, the puzzle wouldn't have worked the same.
Edit: Her first husband was Robert Alan Aurthur whose last name she took but using the spelling of Arthur.
A: BEA ARTHUR, B.B. KING --> KING ARTHUR
Here's my standard reminder... don't post the answer or any hints that could lead directly to the answer (e.g. via a chain of thought, or an internet search) before the deadline of Thursday at 3pm ET. If you know the answer, click the link and submit it to NPR, but don't give it away here.
ReplyDeleteYou may provide indirect hints to the answer to show you know it, but make sure they don't give the answer away. You can openly discuss your hints and the answer after the Thursday deadline. Thank you.
Easy, this one came to me immediately. As Hamlet said, "'Tis as easy as lying."
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteTMI.
DeleteMy apologies. I really didn't think you could use my comment as a step to the answer, but I may be wrong.
DeleteI got the answer quickly, because my brain came up with the musician within a couple of minutes, followed by my first thought of the actress. Now to come up with something that shows I know the correct answer without giving it away.
ReplyDeleteTake the first seven letters of the name of the actress. Remove two of those letters. The remaining letters, in order name something that is stepped on.
DeleteGroovy, Baby.
DeleteA somewhat silly puzzle, but as Bart would say, "Don't be cross, man."
ReplyDeleteDidn't love anything about this puzzle. All I can say -- the Actor is NOT Old Blue Eyes and the Musician is NOT Louis Jordan.
ReplyDeleteThink of another actress' first name and you'll get someone this musician used to play with. Uff... I'm late for the courts!
ReplyDeleteLucille (B.B.'s guitar). "Courts": Billie Jean KING and ARTHUR Ashe.
DeleteBlaine already did come up with something and so did both Ron and Rob. My contribution would be translating a French verb.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSorry about that, Blaine. I thought it was indirect enough, but alas....
DeleteAll done. I think I'll go shopping now.
ReplyDeleteSolved the puzzle and am now at a bakery, to which I felt compelled to go.
ReplyDeleteAlong the same lines, I think, I was reminiscing about a trip to Vermont.
Deletejsulbyrne, were you thinking of King Arthur flour?
DeleteI visited their... headquarters, I guess, or main operations, in Vermont. Mmmmmmmm.
I've had enough of this floury talk.
DeleteYes, King Arthur flour.
DeleteThere is a faint connection to last week's puzzle.
ReplyDeleteBoomer friendly puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteFunny...I get why this was deleted, although I didn't make the connection until after it was deleted.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteOkay look, there is something wrong with the statement of the puzzle. But could people please stop saying more specifically what is wrong with it? That gives too much information. (Even if you think WS *should* have given this information in presenting the puzzle, the fact is he didn't.)
ReplyDeleteI think you might have been referring to my comment. I took it down. Much obliged.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTMI
DeleteThe answer came out of the blue suddenly during my morning walk/hike.
Delete(TLU -- I took down the part I assume you referred to, though I don't necessarily agree. I'd have acted sooner but I just now saw your post.)
This comment has been removed by the author.
Delete(Post-deadline clue explanation: "BLUE Suddenly" = BLUES = B.B.'s musical genre.)
DeleteDefinitely not A-list celebs!
ReplyDeleteDepends how old you are.
DeleteI was hoping to find an alternate answer, but it depended on the existence of an old TV actress named Yeau Kettle.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a Christmas story.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous TV daughter
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteBlaine please remove
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIt doesn't give me the option to delete.
DeleteTry going to this site on your computer. I cannot delete from my phone but can on computer.
ReplyDeleteNotwithstanding chuck’s upchuck, I see a strong relation to a recent puzzle.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteSorry to jump your stuff, but your clue is tmi. It led ne almost directly to the answer. Which I knew already, but stil...
DeleteSorry Chuck, but I have to agree with Musinglink.
DeleteDoes anyone know the area code of the Thursday “winner’s” call? Or if it uses an actual caller ID?
ReplyDeleteIt used to be 202, but I don't think you can count on that any more. If you get a call Thursday afternoon between 3:00 and 4:00 ET, answer it.
DeleteOne fairly recent winner said he got a call from 404 area code (Atlanta) and almost didn't answer it. My Sunday routine was broken last week and I forgot to submit my answer until 2:30 on Thursday. Late entry didn't improve my chances.
DeleteWell, 202 or a multiple thereof.
Delete606 = Eastern KY
Delete808 = Honolulu
"Legendary Figure" is appropriate for he third part of the answer.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteReally? I did several google searches on my own clue and came up with nothing related to the answer.
DeleteActually, the last name is not the only thing, namewise, that the actress has in common with the legendary figure.
ReplyDeleteExcellent "name dropping" clue, Musinglink. Obviously, you know your historical names.
DeleteWelcome to Blainesville
I will work on it tonight
ReplyDeletefait
ReplyDeleteA location associated with the legendary figure anagrams to a tree and a treat. Also, the name of one commenter here contains a (very!) subtle clue.
ReplyDelete"Camelot" = "elm, taco." King Arthur's spear is sometimes named as "Rhongomyniad"...or, for short, "Ron"!
DeleteOnly 1400 last week. Was expecting more.
ReplyDeleteThis week is harder for me. Did grow up in America and know very little about old TV shows and actresses. Will work on it...
I worked the first name and musician. Backed into the actress.
DeleteDDX, hope you didn’t startle her.
DeleteNow that I've been axed (see above), I think I'll clue later.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, if you used the first person's first name instead of her last name that would lead you to another great singer, the mirror image of Carlos Marx.
ReplyDeleteIf you switch "Bea" for "Arthur" you get "King Bee" (phonetically), the first hit by Slim Harpo, king of swamp blues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHhAuiAIW1Y. The Rolling Stones covered this song on one of their early albums, which is how I first heard it.
DeleteThe Stones' version is a pale imitation of the original; as either Keith or Mick reportedly said, "Why would anyone listen to our version when they could hear Slim Harpo?"
I forgot to mention: "Carlos Marx" is a reference to Carlos Slim, possibly the richest man in Mexico, and Harpo Marx. Slim Harpo's real name was James Moore, as you can see from the composer's credit on that 45; his wife suggested that. he call himself Slim Harpo, "harp" being the word that blues musicians used to refer to the harmonica, to distinguish himself from his friend Harmonica Slim.
DeleteDrop a letter from the actress's given name to name a politician.
ReplyDeleteBernice -> Bernie
DeleteThe NPR SP seems to have hit a rocky patch.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that the average solution time (total) for the last three "challenges" has been under ten minutes.
And today's on-air thing was _______ (fill in the blank).
Today's on-air thing was pretty easy, but I didn't get 'Palmolive', and I couldn't shake the notion that the ship might be the 'Pinafore'. I got 'rocky road' a split second before Danielle uttered her giveaway hint; I'd been inventive to conjure up 'rotund spouse' as a possibility.
DeleteI came up with both Nefertari and Nefertiti at the same moment.
DeleteI too thought of Pinafore, but I thought it was officially known as the "H. M. S. Pinafore", so I dismissed that idea.
DeletepjbRecentlyHeardOnTVThatTheActressUsedToAlwaysWearSomeSortOfScarfForSomeReason(HopeThisIsn'tTMI!)
BEA ARTHUR, B. B. KING, KING ARTHUR
DeleteOn Antenna TV, which regularly airs "Maude" reruns, they sometimes run a promo about why "you never see Maude's neck". they say she's always wearing some sort of scarf, though no real reason is provided. I don't really know if that's what the actress or the character preferred at the time.
pjbThinksMaybeWeShouldAlsoSeeIfShe'sDoneTheSameThingOn"TheGoldenGirls"AsWell
I got up late this morning and had to go round and round in order to solve it.
ReplyDeleteThis actress certainly had a lot of training.
ReplyDeleteCourtney, I enjoyed the new aunts in your clue.
DeleteI had whimsically suggested that Will might continue his series of Famous Women Whose Names Are Commonly Mispronounced by following Maya Angelou, Charlize Theron, and Ayn Rand with J.K Rowling. Let the record show that he missed a good chance by leaving "Best-selling author" off his list of categories for today's on-air quiz!
ReplyDeleteMy husband, who is not normally a puzzle guy, solved it and suggested this post: Daisy
ReplyDeleteYour husband is a good hint guy.
DeleteThanks Conman. He's a keeper!
DeleteThe musician is more legendary than the legendary figure in some circles.
ReplyDeleteI would argue that the actress is too.
DeleteUsually, I post my clue in the morning, so this post is late at night.
ReplyDelete"Night" sounds like "knight", like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
DeleteMusic clue: Kenny Rogers (no, it's not Kenny Rogers)
ReplyDeleteMonty Python
ReplyDeleteThis one was much more satisfying to solve for me than the last two. Almost gave up, but then I followed the yellow brick road.
ReplyDeleteKat,
DeletePlease don't take this personally, but I wish you hadn't posted that as I am still grieving over the passing of dear Toto. Run over, he was, by a U.P.S. delivery truck as he was chasing it. I still cry myself to sleep if I happen to think of it. And what makes it worse is that the driver was delivering a case of dog food. So, so sad.
Radio Hint - The Don and Mike Show
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a character in the Star Wars universe
ReplyDeleteAdd a unit of time, name of a university, something that is hard to define, and name of a biblical figure to get the name of the actress.
ReplyDeleteThere is a connection to Hamlet
ReplyDeleteThink!
ReplyDeleteTMI
DeleteSolved this while sitting at my kitchen table
ReplyDeleteThe musician might be mixed up with Albert Gunn.
ReplyDeleteI finally got it today.
ReplyDelete"Sing a song of six pence. Four and twenty black birds baked in a pie."
DeleteThe musician is definately not Lang Lang or Yo Yo Ma. Or Sha Na Na for that matter. As for the actress, Lucille Ball is not the answer, but it might help.
ReplyDeleteLorenzo, it sure was interesting to hear your Jeopardy! tales. Anyone else have some stories?
ReplyDeleteIf you add a “d” to the end, it sounds like something my spouse and I might ask someone.
ReplyDeletehorrid pun time : the Human cannonball divorced his wife and quite the circus. his ex said" where we find another man of his caliber
ReplyDelete"Who dropped my toothpaste", he asked crestfallen.
ReplyDeleteIf Will Shortz calls, I’ll pretend I solved the puzzle today, on vacation, standing on the street named for the musician.
ReplyDeleteThere's a connection to a more famous musician from that city.
DeleteI actually solved it Sunday, but was briefly on B.B. King Boulevard in Memphis on Tuesday.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteO.k., now. I deleted my previous comment due to a spellling error.
ReplyDeleteHere's another clue:
Almost like a Martini.
Any here keeping track of the betting odds on the Kyle Rottenlouse verdict?
ReplyDeleteI don’t know the odds. The judge seems to have ruled a lot in the defense’s favor. I’m hoping for a conviction, but I suspect I’ll be disappointed
DeleteThe judge is way past his shelf life.
DeleteI now have a new favorite oxymoron:
DeleteU.S. judicial system
For better or worse, we live in a world where something can be morally reprehensible - but not illegal.
DeleteI take your point and completely agree with your above statement. But not in this case. What this creep did was against the law and bringing, not a hunting rifle, but an assault type weapon to a demonstration is not only looking for trouble, but asking for it. He, and he alone, instigated mayhem. If we accept this outrageous conclusion in a courtroom run by an incompetent, extreme right wing nutcase judge, to go without massive protest, then we are lost as a viable society.
DeleteI hope this puzzle doesn't make you ill.
ReplyDeleteCrosby, Stills & Nash
ReplyDeleteDig it!
ReplyDeleteEasy as a pie chart.
ReplyDeleteTheir hotline is buzzing.
ReplyDeleteJust found out my cousin is in the new movie by Lin-Manuel Miranda: Tick Tick Boom! In theaters and on Netflix Friday.
ReplyDeleteJust one more week until we gather round the table once again. Thanksgiving remains my favorite holiday. At least this year will have some semblance of normalcy.
ReplyDeleteBEA ARTHUR, B.B. KING, KING ARTHUR
ReplyDelete"5/6" refers to the 5th/6th centuries as in King ARTHUR led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries.
"fait" >>> Rearrange the letters in fait to get the first letters of the tv show, "All in the Family," the show that launched BEA ARTHUR as Maude Findlay.
"Courtney, I enjoyed the new aunts in your clue." >>> As in the nuance of training for training bras, a reference to the "Maude" theme song.
"Lorenzo, it sure was interesting to hear your Jeopardy! tales. Anyone else have some stories?" Final Jeopardy question Monday, 11/15/21 was "What is Camelot?" of KING ARTHUR fame.
"I hope this puzzle doesn't make you ill." >>> i-l-l as in "I Love Lucy." KING named his guitars Lucille.
Bea Arthur & B.B. King & King Arthur
ReplyDeleteMy Hint:
"I got up late this morning and had to go round and round in order to solve it." I felt like I was sitting at King Arthur's Round Table.
KING ARTHUR <— BEA ARTHUR + B. B. KING
ReplyDeleteI first tried the hint “William Bendix,” who starred in the ‘40s radio program and the ‘50s tv show The Life of Riley, but it got Blaine’s axe. “Riley” is of course B. B. King’s given name.
In dread of getting the axe again, I subsequently posted the ostensible non-clue, “I’ll clue later.” “I’ll clue” is an anagram of “Lucille,” the name of King’s guitar.
According to the B. B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center website, King’s first name, usually transcribed “Riley,” was originally spelled “Rileigh.” But nowhere have I been able to determine what the “B” in Riley B. King stood for. I even emailed the museum but haven’t received a reply. Anyone on the blog know?
Early in his career, as a disc jockey, B. B. King was known as, "Blues Boy." He was also known as, Beale Street Blues Boy." These nicknames became B. B.
DeleteYes, I was aware of the derivation of his nickname “B. B.” (He got at at WDIA, the Memphis radio station where he worked in the late ‘40s.
DeleteWhat I was inquiring about was KIng’s birth name, Riley B. King. Does anyone know what the “B” stood for?
BEA ARTHUR → B.B. KING → KING ARTHUR.
ReplyDeleteHamlet also said “to B. or not to B.”
BEA ARTHUR => B. B. KING => KING ARTHUR
ReplyDeleteTaking the first 7 letters of the actress gives us BEAARTH. Remove 2 letters to get EARTH, which I think we have all stepped on.
Paul Sun Nov 14, 05:28:00 AM PST
ReplyDeleteI don't know where Will got his degree.
jan Sun Nov 14, 05:38:00 AM PST
BA, Indiana University Bloomington.
JD, University of Virginia.
Why?
----------------------------------------
I was going for X (unknown) + caliber (maybe not exactly a synonym, but it does appear on degree's Thesaurus page).
BEA ARTHUR, B. B. KING -> KING ARTHUR
ReplyDelete> First name? As Tommy Magliozzi used to say, BOOOOOOGUS!
There's a difference between names and initials.
> Definitely not A-list celebs!
BEA and B. B. are B-list, for sure.
> Think!
Monday's Final Jeopardy! clue was:
MYTHS & LEGENDS
THIS LEGENDARY PLACE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS BEING IN CAERLEON, WALES & IN WINCHESTER, ENGLAND
The correct response, of course: WHAT IS CAMELOT?
"Think!", Merv Griffin's Jeopardy! theme music, is played during Final Jeopardy!.
> Their hotline is buzzing.
A week from Thanksgiving, I'm sure the KING ARTHUR Flour Baker's Hotline is busy. (Also refers to buzzing Bs: Bea, B. B.)
Bea Arthur > B. B. King > King Arthur
ReplyDeleteMy comment, “Don’t be cross, man,” points to Crossman, maker of BB Guns.
And, my favorite wrong answer….
There is a movie director named Yolanda Barker; assuming she uses the nickname, “Yo,” you could get Yo Barker > Yo Yo Ma > Ma Barker.
Bea Arthur + B.B. King --> King Arthur
ReplyDeleteLast Sunday I said, “Could this have anything to do with Yellow Sun Records in Nashville?” Yellow Sun was the first label to sign and record Elvis Presley, “The King.”
And you're even closer than you think: although B.B. King never recorded for Sun Records, Sam Phillips produced a lot of B.B.'s early records for other labels before going on to found Sun Records.
DeletePedantic bit of information I never knew before looking it up on Wikipedia: it was John Sebastian who renamed Sun Records "Yellow Sun Records" in his song "Nashville Cats." Elvis and Howling Wolf and Johnny Cash and Little Milton and Jerry Lee Lewis and Bobby Blue Bland and Roy Orbison all broke in with Sun. What a lineup!
Sam Phillips was, in a very legitimate sense, one of the chief architects of rock-and-roll, and the list of artists he worked with or produced on Sun is seemingly endless: Joe Hill Louis, Little Walter, Rufus Thomas, The Prisonaires, Junior Parker, Little Milton, James Cotton, Howlin' Wolf, Ike Turner, B. B. King, Roy Orbison and, needless to say, the "Million Dollar Quartet"--Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley. I think he deserves a national holiday. (And while we're at it, how about one for Ella Fitzgerald, too?)
DeleteWhich reminds me: after your earlier clue with the anagram of "Lucille" I was going to post "Dr. K does it again," a veiled reference to KDIA where B.B. King worked as a disc jockey, but thought better of it because I worried that someone would think I was calling TMI.
DeleteAs for a national holiday for Sam Phillips, I think we should celebrate it 52 weeks out of the year (53 in some years, depending on the calendar) and call it SunDay. What makes more sense to kick off the celebration than https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvsYRAc-BWA?
I wrote, “The first name of the musician asked for in the puzzle is not the musician’s first name, but what the musician was called.” This was, perhaps rightly, deemed TMI. Apologies.
ReplyDeleteMy husband's clue was "Daisy" (Daisy B.B. Guns). When I said to Conman that my husband's a keeper, I meant bee- keeper. And my Kenny Rogers post was for his song "You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille", Lucille was B.B. King's guitar.
ReplyDeletePosted that this puzzle left me bedazzled, thinking BEDAZZLED starring Dudley Moore, who was involved with Susan Anton, who starred in a movie called GOLDENGIRL. Didn't occur to me that bedazzled could be interpreted as "bea-dazzled."
ReplyDeleteBEA ARTHUR, B.B. KING, KING ARTHUR.
ReplyDeleteTerrible Puzzle.
I solved it in ten seconds, then wrote up top that I didn't love anything about this puzzle. All I can say -- the Actor is NOT Old Blue Eyes and the Musician is NOT Louis Jordan.
Old Blue Eyes is Frank Sinatra, of course. And Bea Arthur is not her name. She was born BERNICE FRANKEL.
And Louis Jordan hat a hit with Choo Choo Ch' Boogie, which quotes "the life of Riley."
B.B. King is not his name. He was born Riley King. Boo hiss.
This week's Puzzleria! features our friend Patrick J. Berry's (cranberry's) 23rd cryptic crossword puzzle that we've been privileged to (try to) solve on our blog. These "cranberry creations" are truly works of verbal art!
ReplyDeleteAlso on our menu:
* a Schpuzzle of the Week about Mike and Mary getting different answers to a word puzzle because one of the two misread it,
* a puzzle slice about a button, corncob, and coal,
* a Dessert about a man of letters, and
* a few handfuls of riffs of this week's "Camelotta Fun" NPR puzzle.
Here is a sneak peek at our Riff-off #6:
ENTREE #6
Take a mammal you might see on a safari or football field. Its first syllable sounds like a letter of the alphabet. Double it.
The result, phonetically, is the first part of the name of the longest-running band with an unchanged lineup in the history of popular music.
The second syllable of the mammal is a synonym of the second part of the name of the band.
What are this mammal and band?
What are the synonyms?
Join us for cryptic joy!
LegoGivingThanksToCranberryAllPuzzleria!s"GuestPuzzleMakers"
I have the answer to your Riff-off #6, but I suppose you don't want me to indicate it here...
DeleteWow, ron. That was quick!
DeleteYes, give any hints you wish to give, but don't reveal the answer until noon PST next Wednesday.
LegoWhoAppreciatesron'sSolvingSkills
I solved it too. Got it right away.
DeleteBEA ARTHUR — B.B. KING — KING ARTHUR
ReplyDeleteMy clues:
I think I’ll go shopping now.
The last name of Bea Arthur’s second husband was Saks. Her two children use that last name as well. Saks, as in: Saks Fifth Avenue. (I almost said “I’ll go shopping downtown,” but thought that might be TMI.)
And just minutes ago, I posted:
Just one more week until we gather round the table once again.
As in: King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table.
Also, her co-star on Maude was Bill MACY.
DeleteYes, once again, this is the time of year when families get together, put tood on the fable, and celebrate Thanksgiving.
DeleteBea Arthur->B. B. King->King Arthur
ReplyDeleteBea Arthur, B.B King and King Arthur.
ReplyDeleteThe Lucille Ball reference was to B.B.King's Gibson guitar that he named Lucille.
The almost a martini clue was to a gibson, which is almost a martini but with a pickled onion.
The Dig It! Reference was to the Beatles song of the same name that mentions B.B. King. Also, the name Maude was a common first name for many royal women in the earlier centuries in England. It is (sometimes) a diminutive form of Matilda.
My favorite TV substitute teacher is Dorothy from The Golden Girls. I was a kid watching re-runs at my Grandma's, and most of the jokes went way over my head. As an adult, I have watched a few more episodes, and she is my favorite character.
ReplyDeleteBea Arthur(who played Dorothy)
B.B. King
King Arthur
Crosby, Stills & Nash wrote, and sang a song titled: "Guinevere", who played a role in the life and times of King Arthur.
I thought your clue that was deleted about a substitute teacher might be too much information as Dorothy was a substitute teacher in Golden Girls.
DeleteBEA ARTHUR>>>>>>BB KING>>>>>>>KING ARTHUR
ReplyDeleteMy clues -
ReplyDeleteI see a strong relation to a recent puzzle - as in the prior actress puzzle featuring Charlize Theron = throne (for a King)
If you add a “d” to the end, it sounds like something my spouse and I might ask someone - as in Bea Arthurd = Be our third!
When I wrote "The musician might be mixed up with Albert Gunn", I was thinking of Albert KING (who was NOT B.B.'s brother, claims to the contrary notwithstanding) and a BB gun -- hence, B.B. King might be mixed up with Albert Gunn.
ReplyDeleteWhen I posted "Easy as a pie chart," I was referring to a table of information and the roundness of a pie. I don't do TM, yet I do do not enough.
ReplyDeleteMore than 2100 correct responses this week.
ReplyDeleteNext week's challenge: Name a country of 6 or more letters. Change 2 letters to name the resident of another country's capital.
ReplyDeleteSolved in less than a minute by looking at the world map on the kitchen wall. No hint here, I'll wait until the new puzzle is up, and post it there.
DeleteGot an answer….but can’t see how to clue it….
ReplyDelete